A few question about the Foonf

Since this is one of the seats I will be selling at work and I'm not familiar with it I'm hoping someone can answer a few questions for me.
1. Is the manual clear on installation instructions? I know lots of parents tend to skim instead of read through so I want to be prepared if there are instructions that are somewhat unclear. (note: I will NOT be helping anyone install anything, I just would like to be able to answer questions on anything that may be unclear)
2. Are there any known installation issues in certain vehicles?
3. Are there any other issues I should know about? I see it gets a lot of love around here so it must be an overall good choice, but are there children it wouldn't work for that should fit in the seat based on the weight/harness height?
Thanks!

The only tip on installation is make sure to open the rear-facing lock-offs all the way. I've seen them get a few people (including me the 1st time) because it has 2 pieces that open.
I don't know of any compatibility issues. It easily fits in both our grand caravan and elantra.

Judi would be better to answer this as she has more car seat experience. Having installed the car seat seat several cars I haven't had any problems at all. Although I do not have much experience with a FF install, as my kids are still RF. It have not found a car it isn't compatible with yet, when I get to my parents this summer I will be trying it in their '99 Subaru outback, that one is hard to install multiple seats in so we shall see.

Cars I have tried it in so far

GMC Pick-up Center position
2007 H Santa FE All rear positions (FF install with Rigid latch is a little hard)
Rental's
Grand Caravan
Chevy 7 passenger thing
GMC 8 passenger

Taxi service on Hilton Head Island- I believe this was a Pilot hit had two captains chairs then two seats in the back.

The anti-rebound bar takes a little force to get it installed, it does get easier the more times you have to take it apart and put it back together. It is easier to put the pins for the rebound bar in with out the latch in the storage position.

The seat cushion also takes some time learn how to remove so play around with the display seat so you can show parents.

Also read my post about airplane installs to give tips on that. it was an adventure but worth it.

I would "play" for a good hour with the seat. There are a lot of quirky characteristics of the seat. Like jamming the ARB into its slot. You have to have nimble fingers for the blasted pins to secure the ARB. Get familiar with taking the seat pad on/off to expose the RFing belt bath and lockoffs. Open BOTH lockoffs (like on a Britax seat). Now how to move the headrest up and down, release the rigid LATCH, and take on/off the recline thingie.

Thirsty4Knowledge said:

I would "play" for a good hour with the seat. There are a lot of quirky characteristics of the seat.

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Completely agree with that! We just got ours last week, and I've gotta say, it's a great seat - built like an Abrams tank - but one of the most complex seats I've seen in recent memory. Fortunately, at the price point they go for, the people buying them are probably going to be CR "enthusiasts" which will help keep the "throw it in without reading the manual" crowd away.

One specific quirk that still doesn't completely make sense to me is this warning (Re. FF install):
"NEVER use and of the 3 lowest sets of Shoulder Harness Slots when installing this seat with a lap belt." I see that physically the upper two harness slots are the only ones with metal reinforcement bars, and I'd understand that bottom 3 with REACT LATCH might reduce forces, but why is it OK with lap/shoulder? Anyway, just an example of the detail required to not miss something.

As a general critique of the Foonf, I will say that it's an outstanding RFing seat (which is why I bought it) but I think a lot of the complexity and cost is in the FFing REACT system and Rigid LATCH. If you're following best practice with it, I don't think you're going to get to utilize that portion of it much. I bought the seat for our 3rd who's 8mo, but tried my 5yr5mo, 47" daughter in it, and she's nearly too tall for the top harness slots FFing already. She would have outgrown the 43" RFing hight limit about a year ago, so I guess 1yr of FFing use would have been good. In general though I wish Clek would have just made this thing the "Mother of All RFing Car Seats" and maybe done rigid LATCH w/ anti-rebound bar AND some sort of Australian RFing tether option to make it a world-leader (rather than just a N. American leader) in RFing use.

Thank you for all the replies! I'm not sure how much time I will have to play with the seat, but I will spend as much time as I can with it. It seems like a good recommendation for most kids so I'm very interested in learning about it and it's quirks!

I have installed in a lot of cars. So far, I swear it is the easiest seat I have installed RFing. That being said, a parent can screw up any install. The manual is easy for me to understand, but I have sent issues with it into Clek. Also, there are parts. Parts make it easy to screw up.

What parts are there? Anything like the screws in the turbo booster that parents are likely to miss? Or parts like the seat has to be put together out of the box? Thanks for answering all of my questions!

In order to install it rear facing out of the box, you have to put the anti rebound bar on, but the rear facing base on, and put the pins into the anti rebound bar. The pins are small and could be easily missed. The pins do not HAVE to be used, according to CLEK it's okay to use it without them if for instance you need to get replacement pins. Then you have to take off the seat pad and belly pad in order to use the rear facing belt path OR latch.

It's a seat that needs a fair amount of set up and wrangling, you don't just take it out of the box and LATCH it in.

I am definitely going to have to spend some time playing with this, hopefully I will have the time! I still have to learn about the strollers!

AK Dad said:

As a general critique of the Foonf, I will say that it's an outstanding RFing seat (which is why I bought it) but I think a lot of the complexity and cost is in the FFing REACT system and Rigid LATCH. If you're following best practice with it, I don't think you're going to get to utilize that portion of it much.

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Totally agree. If cost is not an issue, it is great to have this seat as an option for heavy kids/long torso/big head that want to RF to 4. At this point, the REACT FF safety system does not appear to be effective without LATCH so you might want to warn people about that. They will eventually allow LATCH plus seat belt when kids go over the LATCH limit!
http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=245019
They seem to really stress making sure to keep the seat belt in all 4 of the RF seat belt guide tabs. In my 09 Forester RF center, where there is a hump in the vehicle seat, I can only use one lockoff or they will pop open and eventually fail.
http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=242561
Clek has OK'd using recline position 2, not just 3, for RF. This makes the seat more upright. This is nice for tall drivers/front seat passengers or where you need more front to back space in the back seat.
The thing is a tank so not great for folks that have to move their seat a lot. It also can be hard for some people to load their child into the seat RF if the child is outboard since it takes up a lot of doorway space and sits up on a base. It really is a great option for extended rear facing though or if you forward face your child at 2 or earlier and they are still within the LATCH limits of the vehicle.

Good luck with your new job! You seem like you are really doing your homework.